Chard woman raises £743 from skydive in memory of her father

A CHARD woman has taken part in a record-breaking skydive to raise money for a charity that provided ‘priceless’ care for her late father.

Lisa Jenkins, 39, who works as a lettings officer in Yeovil, was one of 290 people who helped set a Guinness world record at Dunkeswell Airfield for the most number of tandem sky dives completed in one day – smashing the previous record of 251.

In the process, Lisa raised £743.22 for St Margaret’s Hospice, the charity that cared for her father, Michael Clancy, who died on his 65th birthday.

Lisa said: “This charity provided something for me that is impossible to repay – they gave us back our dad. They made our Daddy strong enough to come home where he belonged with us.

“They helped us care for him in a place where he wanted to be, with his girls. They gave us back a dad, granddad and husband to love and cherish for just a little while longer.

“We may have had borrowed time, but this meant we all got to love him and cuddle him for a little while longer – and that is something that is priceless.”

Lisa was joined by her friend Liam Whyte for the skydive and described the experience as “exhilarating.”

She said: “It was fabulous – I loved every second of it. It was an exhilarating experience and one I would do again in an instant.

“As I approach the big 40 this year, it was quite high up on my bucket list of challenges to achieve.”